Political issue Russian in Ukraine: “Language as a hybrid weapon of war”

Fewer and fewer people in Ukraine speak Russian in everyday life – as a conscious move away from the attacker. Laws should also promote the Ukrainian language. The debate about how far the regulations should go is characterized by extremes.

Dmitrij Gordon does not lack clarity. In a video he promotes his Telegram channel, which, as he says, contains conscientious and patriotic journalism. He stands in the middle of Kiev, behind him you can see the Khreschtschatyk. The most important street in the capital of independent Ukraine, which is fighting “against Putin’s fascist Russia” – that’s what Gordon says literally. He is one of the best-known journalists in Ukraine – and at the same time a rarity because he continues to present his content in Russian.

Anyone who turns on the radio or television in Ukraine has practically only heard Ukrainian since February 2022 at the latest. A law was passed in 2019 that was intended to strengthen Ukrainian as an official language. In light of the Russian invasion, more and more people in the traditionally bilingual country are using Ukrainian.

Although Oleksij still speaks Russian at home, he only reads in Ukrainian, says the young man from Kiev. Olena, an older woman who also lives in Kiev, has given up the habit of speaking Russian: “We now only speak Ukrainian in the family. For me it has a patriotic character.”

Russian devaluation as “Chochol” characterizes

Illarion Pavliuk, a well-known author in Ukraine, has also switched to the Ukrainian language. For him, the use of Ukrainian is also for business reasons: he heads the press office of the Ministry of Defense. But his interest in the main language of his country began in his childhood, some of which he spent in Russia. As a child, Pavliuk says he was not yet aware of the concept of nationality. In Russia he was then referred to as “Chochol” – a derogatory term for Ukrainians. “I was also told that the Ukrainian language didn’t exist, that it was distorted Russian. I then cried,” remembers Pavliuk.

According to the author of several books, this experience shaped him. As he admits, many people in Ukraine grew up speaking purely Russian. This is due to Russia’s imperial heritage, Pavliuk emphasizes: “The spread of the Russian language in Ukraine was artificial. In the 19th century, for example, it was forbidden to sing lullabies in Ukrainian. Today, Russians use the Russian language as a hybrid weapon of war to exert influence in Ukraine.”

“Don’t dictate a language to anyone in everyday life”

In fact, language use in the country continues to have the potential to divide. An extreme example is Iryna Farion. The ultra-nationalist politician and linguistics professor from Lviv recently made disparaging comments about Russian-speaking Ukrainian soldiers: she could not call them Ukrainians if they did not speak Ukrainian. It was stupid to speak Russian while fighting in the Ukrainian army, Farion said. This statement nevertheless cost her her job at a university in Lviv. Students had previously called for her dismissal.

Illarion Pavliuk also sharply criticizes Farion – but also emphasizes that her stance is clearly in the minority. At the same time, Pavliuk defends measures to strengthen the Ukrainian language, which currently include a partial ban on books and music from Russia. This serves to protect one’s own culture, he says.

But he doesn’t want to interfere in the private life of the population: “You can’t dictate a language to anyone in everyday life. That contradicts the most important value of Ukrainians, which is freedom. You can speak Crimean Tatar, English or Russian. You’re welcome. But I think that “The percentage of people switching to Ukrainian should be higher. But it has to be a personal decision.”

The author and public servant is also sure that Russian can continue to exist as a language in Ukraine. But in a different form: He believes that Russian will naturally play a smaller role in Ukraine in the next ten years – in contrast to, for example, Polish. This is because Poles are friends and allies of Ukraine, while Russia invaded the country. It’s actually quite simple, says Pavliuk: Russian should just be a foreign language like any other in Ukraine. No more and no less.